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Saturday, April 26, 2014

We're thrilled to introduce part two of Kate Tilton's recap on PubSmart, the great writer's conference she attended down in Charleston, SC from April 16 to 18. The information Kate has gathered is invaluable, so whether you're an author with a published book (or one coming out soon), or an aspiring author, take advantage of the bounty of tips gathered from some of the most eminent media experts. Here you go! : )

Adventures in PubSmart (Part Two)

by Kate Tilton

This was my favorite master class, social media. There are always new things to learn about how to master the platforms of social media. As a social media manager it was encouraging to hear many of the tips I regularly give authors be given by social media pros. Check out the tips below and if you missed part one of the PubSmart series check it out here.

Figure out what you need to say, what is your subject, your attitude towards the subject, who is your audience, what do they think of your subject, what do you want your audience to feel and do, and how will you get them to act.

Identify the groups that can help you achieve your goals.

Use your website as your home base with social media driving traffic back to your website.

Have a way for people to subscribe by email on your website.

Keep your website fresh and up-to-date.

Make sure you have social sharing buttons on your website.

Make a commitment to your social media and let others know it, e.g. I will blog once weekly.

Follow the 20/20/20 rule: 20% of your time on research, 20% on digital content, and 20% on engagement.

Use more visuals! A picture on your blog will increase the share rate.

Interact beyond social media with sites like Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari.

If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it! Don’t argue online. You will never win and it turns people away.

Pick one or two platforms to focus on and develop instead of trying to be on all of them.

Twitter is a language; look up people’s handles to give them credit, use hashtags, use your name and not your book title, make your bio informative, and use your picture instead of your book cover.

Answer the comments you get!

People want to meet YOU. Follow what you love and have the guts to share.

Make sure you have a copyright on your website. It is easy to do: just put Copyright year content first posted/current year - your name – All Rights Reserved. For example Copyright 2007/2014 | Kate Tilton | All Rights Reserved.

Make sure your website is responsive, meaning it can be easily viewed on a mobile device.

Highlights:

Social media & blogging is the key to growing your audience.

It is not about who has the most fans but who has the right fans. The real key is getting fans that will amplify your message.

You need to start now, not later.

The trend is towards visual. Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram show this.

How you converse with others will bring people to you or push them away.

Your role in social media is to engage socially to build a following. Think about talking as the creator instead of as the sales person.

It can be easy to connect with other writers and forget about why you joined these sites, so make it a point to reach out to readers.

Social media is NOT a marketplace! Conversion does happen but it is social media, not sell media.

Brenda McClain, Jacqueline Gum, Kendra Haskins, and Shari Stauch are the wonderful women behind Where Writers Win and part of the PubSmart committee. Kathy Meis is the founder of Bublish, a discovery platform for authors, and a member of the PubSmart committee. Porter Anderson is one of the best publishing reporters of our time. For more information about each speaker please check out the PubSmart website.

If you have any questions about this article, publishing, or social media I would love to hear from you! Just leave a comment below or connect with me on my website, katetilton.com.

About Kate Tilton:
Kate Tilton has been in love with books for as long as she can remember. Kate believes books saved her life and strives to repay authors for bringing books into the world by serving as a dependable author assistant. A cat-lover and fan of many geeky things, Kate can likely be found curled up with the latest Doctor Who episode, plotting world takeover, or assisting authors and readers in any way she can.

Kate is also a self-proclaimed Twitter addict. You will find her hosting #K8chat, her own creation, every Thursday night on Twitter from 9-10pm Eastern.

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